Barcelona will be without inspiration captain Carles Puyol for their Champions League opener against Spartak Moscow on Wednesday after the defender went off injured in a league clash.
Puyol was substituted with a knee ligament injury after 57 minutes of Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Getafe on Saturday, and the problem could keep him out of action for up to six weeks.
Midfielder and newly crowned European footballer of the year Andres Iniesta was ruled out of the Spartak match with a thigh strain after playing in Spain’s 1-0 win against Georgia on Tuesday, while Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez is an injury doubt with a similar problem.
Full-back Jordi Alba missed the Getafe match with an illness.
